By: Marcia J. Wood
The psychodynamic approach began with the work of Sigmund Freud. Often people assume that those who utilize the psychodynamic approach are Freudian and that they most likely look and act like Freud.
People frequently picture a psychodynamic
psychologist as a middle-aged or elderly man with a beard, sporting a tweed
jacket replete with a pipe. They often envision someone who will analyze
everything and require that their patients lay on a couch, talk about their
relationship with their mother, and disclose all of their sexual fantasies.
Various films and other
media influences have perpetuated this stereotype of the psychodynamic
therapist. This narrow stereotype of psychodynamically oriented professionals
is obviously outdated and inaccurate. Psychologists of all ages, ethnicities, and both genders
identify themselves as being psychodynamically oriented.
While Freud is usually
credited with being the founding father of the psychodynamic perspective, many Neo-Freudian
and other revisionists have greatly adapted, broadened, and challenged Freud’s
basic approach over the past 100 years. Freud, if alive today, might even be
surprised (or appalled) to behold the array of current theories and
intervention strategies utilized by modern psychodynamic psychologists.
The psychodynamic perspective
maintains certain
assumptions about human behavior and
psychological problems.
First, the psychodynamic perspective holds
that human behavior is influenced by intra-psychic (within the mind) drives, motives, conflicts, and impulses, which are primarily
unconscious.
Second, various adaptive and
maladaptive ego defense mechanisms are used to deal with unresolved conflicts, needs,
wishes, and fantasies that contribute to both
normal and abnormal behavior.
Third, early experiences and
relationships, such as the relationship between children and their parents,
play a critical and
enduring role in psychological development and
adult behavior.
Fourth, insight into these mostly
unconscious influences combined with working through them (discussing and integrating them into
everyday life) help to improve psychological functioning and behavior.
Finally, the analysis of the transferential relationship that
develops between the patient and therapist also
helps to resolve conflicts and improve
psychological functioning and behavior.
The psychodynamic approach can be generally classified into several categories, including the traditional Freudian perspective, the revisionist perspective, and the modern object relations perspective. While there are numerous further divisions of psychodynamic theory, these three major views will be presented here.
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective
Freud’s psychoanalytic
perspective is often called classical analysis or classical Freudian analysis.
Freud developed an understanding of human behavior based on three mental structures that are usually in conflict. The id, developed at birth, operates on the pleasure principle and represents all of our primitive wishes, needs, and desires. The ego, developed at about age one, operates on the reality principle and represents the rational and reasonable aspects of our personality helping us to adapt to a challenging world.
Finally,
the superego, developed at about age
5 following the successful resolution of the Oedipus complex, represents the
internalization of familial, cultural, and societal norms and mores. The
superego includes the ego ideal (the perfect image or representation of who we are and who we
can become) and our conscience (the rules of good and bad feelings, thinking, and behavior). The
conscience involves what we perceive to be “right” and “wrong.” Inevitable
conflict between the id, ego, and superego lead to anxiety and discomfort and
the need to utilize ego defense mechanisms.
Defense mechanisms are strategies developed by the ego to protect the person from
these internal and mostly unconscious conflicts. Thus, they help us cope, either
adaptively or maladaptively, with the inevitable anxiety and discomfort
associated with being human.
There are a variety of
ego defense mechanisms individuals can draw upon. Examples include
Repression (keeping unpleasant
thoughts, feelings, wishes, and conflicts out of consciousness),
Denial (denying that problematic
feelings, thoughts, or behaviors exist),
Reaction formation (consciously thinking or feeling the opposite of the unconscious
impulse),
Projection (one’s own unconscious conflicts, feelings, and drives are perceived
in someone else),
Sublimation (channeling unacceptable impulses and desires into socially
acceptable activities), and
Displacement (channeling unacceptable impulses toward less threatening
sources).
The maladaptive use of
these defense mechanisms to cope with anxiety and conflict often
lead to psychopathology.
lead to psychopathology.
Freud also outlined
several psychosexual stages of development that he regarded as universal. These include the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and
genital phases. Libidinal, or life energies, are
channeled toward different areas of the body that demand gratification during
each of these phases. Potential conflicts and problems can develop as a
byproduct of fixations at any one of these stages.
For example, one might
become fixated at one stage of development (e.g., oral) due to too much or too
little stimulation during that stage. This fixation may then result in problems
in adulthood such as smoking, eating, or drinking too much.
Freud especially
focused on the Oedipus complex (named after a character in the Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex) that
occurs during the phallic stage of development. Although one of Freud’s most
well-known theories, this complex notion was not a central feature of many of
his writings. During the oedipal phase, a boy develops incestuous and murderous
desires, wishing to be unified with his mother while necessarily eliminating his father. The resulting fears of
retaliation and castration result in repression of these impulses and the use
of reaction formation to identify with the father instead.
Freud felt that a
similar situation occurs for girls involving the desire for unification with
the father and elimination of the mother. This female variation of the Oedipus complex is
referred to as the Electra complex although Freud himself did not like or use this term.
The goal of Freud’s
approach was insight (understanding the unconscious factors that lead to problematic
feelings, thinking, and behavior) and working
through of the insights to improve daily
functioning. The working-through process involves a careful and in-depth
examination of the role of unconscious wishes, drives, impulses, and conflicts
in everyday life.
Techniques such as free association (saying
whatever is on one’s mind without censoring), dream
analysis and interpretation,
and the analysis of
transference as well as everyday
thoughts, feelings, and behavior were used to help understand and treat various
problems. Furthermore, understanding and analyzing inevitable defensiveness and
resistance to treatment is also a goal of psychodynamic therapy.
The Revisionist or Neo-Freudian Perspective
The psychodynamic perspective proposed by Freud has been expanded and adapted in various ways by numerous theorists since the days of Freud. These revisions actually began during Freud’s lifetime.Most adaptations of Freud’s original theories focus on the role of development beyond childhood, the role of societal and cultural influences, and the role of interpersonal relationships, and involve a de-emphasis on unconscious and id-driven impulses and behaviors such as sexuality.
Finally, the revisionists generally agreed that psychological development continues beyond the early years addressed by Freud. These aspects of the revisionists’ theories set the stage for current object relations theory.
Carl Jung (1875–1965) was
one of the first members of Freud’s inner circle to disagree with fundamental
aspects of Freud’s theory and develop a revision of the psychodynamic
perspective. In fact, Freud had hoped that Jung would be his protégé; and heir, carrying on his
work after his death. Freud’s disappointment with Jung’s iconoclasm led to a
great deal of bitterness and many angry letters between the two men.
Erik Erikson (1909–1993),
for example, developed a lifespan perspective stating that psychosocial
development continues far beyond the five psychosexual stages of childhood
outlined by Freud.
Alfred Adler
(1870–1937) felt that Freud’s emphasis on the id and sexuality as well as his
under-emphasis of the ego were critical flaws in his approach. Furthermore, unlike
Freud, Adler felt that compensation for feelings of inferiority were very
important in the formation of personality and psychological functioning.
Carl Jung also rejected
Freud’s emphasis on sexuality. Furthermore, Jung emphasized spiritual
influences as well as the role of the collective unconscious (symbols and
innate ideas that are shared with our ancestors).
Harry Stack Sullivan
(1892–1949) focused on the role of interpersonal relationships in personality and psychological development.
Karen Horney
(1885–1952) took issue with Freud’s theories of penis envy and the role of
women.
The contributions of
these neo-Freudians, or revisionists, significantly diverged from Freud’s original theories.
Fundamentally, Freud’s emphasis on the id was de-emphasized among the
revisionists who developed theories that focused more on the functioning of the
ego. Thus, the theories of many of the revisionists have become known as
forming the basis of ego psychology.
Furthermore, most of the
revisionists agreed that the role of interpersonal relationships was fundamental
in the development of personality and psychological functioning.
The Object Relations Perspective:
Even though Freud’s
psychoanalytic theory focused heavily on early childhood experiences, he never
once treated a child in psychoanalysis. Freud made inferences about childhood
development and experiences through his analysis of adult patients who reflected on their
childhoods.
Critics of Freud often
state that because his theories were based on his experience of treating a
small number of upper-class and primarily adult female patients in Vienna
during the Victorian period rather than on more broad and scientifically based
research and experience, his theories are suspect.
One of the first psychoanalytic
writers who focused on the direct treatment of children was Melanie Klein (1952).
Klein felt that the internal emotional world of children focuses on
interpersonal relationships rather than on the control of impulses and drives.
Klein and several
colleagues including W. R. D. Fairbairn (1954) and Margaret Mahler (1952)
became known as the British School of object
relations theory, whereas the American contributions of Otto Kernberg (1975,
1976, 1984), James Masterson (1981), and Heinz Kohut (1971, 1977, 1984) further
developed object relations theory in the United States.
Object relations theorists
have been especially influential in further developing and fine-tuning current psychodynamic theory, research, and practice. The object relations theorists
view infants as being relationship or object seeking rather than pleasure seeking. The early relationship with
the mother provides the framework for the development of the sense of self.
Thus, attachment to the mother provides the structure and approach for the
development of psychological functioning and future relationships.
Through interactions
with the mother during breast feeding and other activities, the child
internalizes, or introjects, various qualities of the person or object with whom they are
interacting. The child then separates, or splits,
these internalized aspects of the mother into various positive
(the good rewarding mother, or the “good breast”) and negative (the bad or punishing mother, or the
“bad breast”) aspects.
Attachment to the
mother may be either secure or insecure. These divisions provide a template for
future interactions with the world in general. Therefore, if the mother-child
relationship is primarily negative and filled with unsatisfying and frustrating experiences, the child is
likely to have a difficult time developing an adequate and positive sense of
self or achieving satisfying and trusting intimate adult relationships.
Therefore, object
relations theorists tend to view behavior as a manifestation of early childhood
experiences with the mother and other important figures in the child’s life. Object
relation theorists, however, generally neglected the influence of the
father-child relationship. The early relationship foundation develops the sense
of self as well as a framework for negotiating all future interpersonal relationships.
Psychodynamic
professionals today are likely to focus on early childhood experiences and
relationships, the enduring personality structure of a person, and the
influences of unconscious fantasies, wishes, and impulses. The analysis of
dreams, transference, and resistance with the goal of increased insight into
the unconscious are still important goals of current psychodynamic approaches.
Psychodynamic
psychotherapy historically would take years to conduct and involve four or five
sessions each week. More recent psychodynamic theorists have developed short-term
treatments (Goldfried, Greenberg, & Marmar, 1990; Horowitz, Marmar,
Krupnick, Wilner, Kaltreider, & Wallerstein, 1984; Laor, 2001; Strupp &
Binder, 1984), which focus on the application of psychodynamic principles in
treatment over the course of several weeks or a few months.
Research has found that
these brief psychodynamic treatments are effective (E. Anderson & Lambert,
1995). In fact, brief psychodynamic psychotherapy is considered to be an
empirically supportive treatment by the American Psychological Association
(APA) when applied to opiate dependence and depression (D. Chambless et al.,
1996).
References
Contemporary
clinical psychology / Thomas G. Plante — 2nd ed. Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.
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